Rocks in EOS®: 3 Tips for Self Implementers

This is an excerpt from “How to Self Implement EOS: Getting Started the Right Way” with EOS Implementer Jeff Schafer.
Watch the full video here.

1) Focus on A Few Things That Advance You

The big question for the entire company is: what are the three to seven most important things that we need to get done in the near future?

There may be things that this department needs to do, that individual needs to do, but what must the company achieve, do or die?

We discuss and debate - some of my clients call it aggressive fellowship - we do that until we get it down to three to seven.

Sometimes, we look at that list and it’s hard, because you just want it all. Sometimes, you can combine things and that turns into a discussion. Sometimes, I just ask them, where do your eyes go? What’s something you can’t let go of because it has to be done?

In this discussion, we find a lot of the things there can wait. What I’m describing is really awkward for people, it’s uncomfortable. But it’s growth. It’s growth in them going from being reactive to events, to being able to predict what will happen next.

When I ask you what the most important thing is, I’m really asking about the next 90 days - where do you want to be? They know they want everything, but they’re only going to be able to handle a few things. Which few things must we have?

2) Leadership is Simplifying

Looking at the visionary and integrator - the visionary, when they’re looking at that list of 30 things that we have to get down to three to seven, the question they need to keep asking is,

“What’s better for bigger picture? What’s for the greater good of the organization?”

When you ask a visionary that question, the list will get smaller, because visionaries are really good at answering that question when they’re asked to focus. They’re good at that bigger picture.

The integrator, however, you have to ask them the question: if we don’t get this down in size, are we ever going to get off this topic?

The integrator wants the ships to arrive and things to be done on time. You have to ask them that question. They’re often just as guilty of adding all those things. You’ve got to say to them, “Hey, we need to simplify and decide. If we don’t decide, this whole thing won’t move ahead. Can you please prioritize in order for us to decide on the highest priorities?” When you frame the language like that, for the visionary and integrator respectively as I mentioned, it helps them get that list down.

3) It Takes a Few Cycles to Get it Right

Shoot for 90 days. It can be 60 or 75. In the first round you realize, hey, maybe I should have built goals that were a 90-day objective that was a little more concise or SMART. You learn things every cycle, but you don’t change or edit the rock in the period you work on it. You can work on large objectives, you can get ready for the next quarter, but you really wanna force the ability to predict what those objectives are and get that practice of, every 90 days, predicting the next 90 days. It takes a few cycles to get it right.